Goldberg’s return entrance

Hey Scott


I’ve watched Goldberg’s entrance on his initial return numerous times. I think it may be one of the best orchestrated sequence’s ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KnehdZ3bjQ


It flows as follows:

– Michael Cole’s introduction is short and stone faced, conveying the significance of the moment without telling you that you should support him.
– In the walk through the arena, you start with the oldest wrestler’s reaction and finish with the newer ones. Backlund is completely in character.
– You now get a range of reactions. New Day (particularly Big E) is just hyped as fuck.
– You have Cesaro ceasing some activity with t-shirts to look.
– You have R Truth and Goldust in complete shock.
– You have the newer wrestlers (Big Cass and Neville) looking wary, because Goldberg’s character is intimidating to those that don’t know him personally.
– Goldberg acknowledges none of them to cement his persona.
– You have his family reaction in the crowd to show the return’s importance to them and add a human element to Goldberg.
– The music changes perfectly as he starts down the tunnel (with the drum beat sounding like it’s in an enclosed space), then it changes again into a military beat as he marches up the stairs.
– Next is a long wide shot of the stage to pause before he emerges and build anticipation.
– Finally the pyro to pop the crowd before he emerges.

Am I giving WWE too much credit, or do you think they actually planned it in this level of detail?

​I still think that WCW, which was staffed by an actual TV production team, understood much better how to shoot and present Goldberg. Not to mention that he appealed much more to the southern-style badass roots of WCW, whereas WWE sees everyone as "entertainers" and tries to frame Goldberg as a character instead of a wrestler.

That being said, I have no serious nostalgia for him either way, so both have their good points.​